WASHINGTON (CNN) - Trying to show a little bipartisanship, President-elect Barack Obama had an off-the-record meeting Wednesday with liberal commentators and columnists, the morning after a dinner with conservative writers at the home of columnist George F. Will.

Two sources close to the transition say Obama met Wednesday morning at his transition headquarters here with left-leaning writers like Maureen Dowd and Frank Rich of The New York Times, E.J. Dionne and Gene Robinson of The Washington Post, and MSNBC talk show host Rachel Maddow.

More moderate attendees included columnists Gerald Seib of The Wall Street Journal and Ronald Brownstein of National Journal magazine.

President-elect Obama is set to return to Ohio where he held a campaign rally just days before the election in November.

(CNN) – The day before he kicks off a four-day marathon of Inauguration-related events in the nation’s capital, President-elect Barack Obama will head to Ohio to tout his economic recovery plan.

Friday, Obama will travel to Bedford Heights, Ohio to tour Cardinal Fastener & Specialty Company, a company that uses only American made items to manufacture parts used to construct wind turbines. He will meet with workers on the factory floor to discuss his economic stimulus proposals, officially known as the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan."

Obama has said his economic stimulus plan aims to save or create three to four million American jobs overall. His plan would also try to create a half million jobs by investing in clean energy, like wind power.

The president-elect and his economic team have been meeting with members of Congress about the plan for days, but a final solution is still in the works.

This will be Obama’s last trip to Ohio as president-elect. The next day, Obama will travel from Philadelphia to Washington, DC to kick-off Inauguration weekend.

(CNN) - President-elect Obama sat down with some of his toughest critics Tuesday evening, visiting conservative columnist George Will's Maryland home. Also on hand for the gathering: New York Times columnist David Brooks, Weekly Standard editor William Kristol, and others.

Obama's desire to create or save at least 3 million jobs is "a very concrete way of saying we want to ease as much of the pain as we can," said economist Christina Romer, a coauthor of the analysis and Obama's choice to head the Council of Economic Advisers, in a video address released this weekend.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Two Democratic sources tell CNN that President-elect Obama will be on Capitol Hill today to meet with Senate Democrats at their weekly policy luncheon — to make his case for how he wants to spend the second half of the $700 billion in TARP funds and to push his economic stimulus package.

A transition source confirms to CNN that Obama wanted to go one last time before becoming president, and says he’ll go to the Republican lunch sometime after Inauguration Day.

CNN has learned that President-elect Obama plans to close the U.S. military prison located at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (Getty Images/File)

WASHINGTON (CNN) - President-elect Barack Obama is planning to move as early as his first week in office to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay to try and show a dramatic break from the Bush administration's approach to the war on terror, according to two officials close to the transition.

One of the officials said it would be in keeping with Obama's campaign promise to shut down the prison through executive order, a move which was also pushed by last year's Republican presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

"The President-elect has repeatedly said the legal framework at Gitmo has failed to successfully and swiftly prosecute terrorists," said one of the officials close to the transition, who was not authorized to speak publicly about private deliberations.

The president-elect's plan to revive the economy is taking shape. Here's what we know so far.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - As lawmakers head into the second week of debate over President-elect Barack Obama's proposed economic stimulus plan, new details continue to shed light on what promises to be a sprawling and complex piece of legislation in American history.

Though many details are still lacking, the aim of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan is clear: rejuvenate the economy and create jobs by spending hundreds of billions of dollars on infrastructure, state budget relief, safety nets for the needy and tax cuts.

A recent analysis by Obama economic advisers Christina Romer and Jared Bernstein suggested that the proposed plan could save or create 3 million to 4 million jobs by the end of 2010.

The visit came as a complete surprise to Sonya Ali, one of the owners of the family-run business.

“Do you think I’d look like this if I knew?” she said, referencing her red blouse and slacks. The Secret Service came in and secured the location. Ali asked them how soon they could expect the president-elect. “Within minutes,” they told her.

And sure enough, he did, with Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty in tow.

Security barricaded the U Street block, and hundreds rushed out of restaurants and apartment buildings to catch a glimpse of the incoming president.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Thousands of pro-Palestinian activists rallied outside the temporary residence of President-elect Barack Obama Saturday, and called on the incoming leader to stop the violence in Gaza.

About 3,000 people carrying signs and chanting "Free Palestine" flooded Lafayette Park, which is sandwiched between the White House and the Hay-Adams Hotel, where the president-elect is living with his family.

Carrying a Palestinian and wearing a keffiyeh, Abdel-Kader Elkabil called on the president-elect to take action.

"Please Mr. Obama, do something. We love you. We voted for you," said Abdel-Kader Elkabil. "I'm expecting you to do something...you're the only one who can do something."